Synthesis of perfluorinated polyethers

A series of highly fluorinated acetylenes was prepared and their cyclization reactions were studied. A series of perfluoropolytriazines with -CF2I pendent groups were prepared. These materials can be cured thermally or photochemically to an elastomeric gum. Perfluoropolytriazines with -CN pendent groups were prepared. These materials can be crosslinked by reaction with terephthalonitrile oxide

Ocular manifestations in lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy

Ocular manifestations of leprosy in 100 patients examined were reported on; -80% were suffering from the lepromatous type of the disease. The most frequent change was loss of eyebrows (40%) which was seen mainly in lepromatous patients. The sclera and cornea were rarely affected separately, but sclerokerato-iridocyclitis was found in 3%. On the other hand, the iris was involved rather more often -16% (atrophy of the iris -4, atrophy of the pupillary margin -3, miosis -1, posterior synechiae -6, keratic precipitates -1, and iris "pearls" -1). The iritis always had an insidious chronic evolution. The origin of the iritis is probably multifactorial: a) neuroparalytic due to involvement of the autonomic nerves supplying the iris muscles, primarily dilator; b) direct effect of Mycobacterium leprae on the iris tissue; and c) immune or auto-immune mechanisms. The posterior uvea was rarely affected (2%). No case of primary glaucoma was detected, but secondary glaucoma due to sclerokerato-iridocyclitis was found in 2 cases. Cataract seems to occur more frequently in leprosy patients (20%) than in the general population. The anterior segment was mostly affected (21%), and all these cases belonged to the lepromatous (16) or borderline lepromatous (5) type.peer-reviewe

President Trump’s Executive Order No. 13780: Impact on Refugee Resettlement Organizations in Buffalo

On March 6th, 2017 President Trump signed Executive Order 13780: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into The United States. This effectively lowered the refugee admissions cap by more than half and thus had an impact on the work of local refugee resettlement organizations. This change is especially relevant to Buffalo, as the city has a significant refugee population which relies on these organizations for various services. There are many components which must be taken into consideration in order to understand how this public policy has tangible impacts on local resettlement organizations. International refugee law and domestic refugee policy set the framework for how these organizations interact with one another and with government. The U.S. federal government is responsible for adhering to the 1951 United Nations Convention Related to the Status of Refugees. The Refugee Act of 1980 formalized the domestic policy towards refugees which before was primarily ad hoc in nature. The nature of the relationship between government and nongovernmental resettlement agencies is cooperative, with government relying on organizations to provide services and organizations relying on government for funding. Because of this, NGOs must embrace strategies to remain sustainable during hard times when funding is cut. This research includes a qualitative and quantitative study of the local resettlement organizations in Buffalo: The International Institute of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Catholic Charities, and Jewish Family Services. These organizations undoubtedly felt the impact of President Trump’s Executive Order and the subsequent loss in funding. An analysis of their funding information along with open-ended interviews with organizational administrators revealed the relationship that from mission drift to staffing cuts, they have had to find ways to cope with the changes. Moving forward, new strategies need to be embraced while the organizations continue to prepare themselves for future policy changes under the Trump administration

Replacement Gastrostomy Tube Causing Acute Pancreatitis: Case Series with Review of Literature

Context Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feedings are generally considered safe with few serious complications. Acute pancreatitis is a rare complication associated with replacement percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes. Case report We report two cases of acute pancreatitis induced by migrated replacement percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes. Conclusions Migration of a balloon into the duodenum can result in external manipulation of the ampulla of Vater thereby disturbing the flow of pancreatic secretions leading to acute pancreatitis. Recognition of this complication is important and should be included as potential etiology of acute pancreatitis in patients receiving percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feedings. Periodic examination and documentation of the distance of the balloon from the skin should be performed to document the position of the tubes or any inadvertent migration of the tubes. The use of Foley catheters as permanent replacement tubes should be considered medically inappropriate

The Three-Dimensional Expansion of the Ejecta from Tycho's Supernova Remnant

We present the first three-dimensional measurements of the velocity of various ejecta knots in Tycho's supernova remnant, known to result from a Type Ia explosion. Chandra X-ray observations over a 12-year baseline from 2003 to 2015 allow us to measure the proper motion of nearly 60 "tufts" of Si-rich ejecta, giving us the velocity in the plane of the sky. For the line of sight velocity, we use two different methods: a non-equilibrium ionization model fit to the strong Si and S lines in the 1.2-2.8 keV regime, and a fit consisting of a series of Gaussian lines. These methods give consistent results, allowing us to determine the red or blue shift of each of the knots. Assuming a distance of 3.5 kpc, we find total velocities that range from 2400 to 6600 km s$^{-1}$, with a mean of 4430 km s$^{-1}$. We find several regions where the ejecta knots have overtaken the forward shock. These regions have proper motions in excess of 6000 km s$^{-1}$. Some Type Ia supernova explosion models predict a velocity asymmetry in the ejecta. We find no such velocity asymmetries in Tycho, and discuss our findings in light of various explosion models, favoring those delayed detonation models with relatively vigorous and symmetrical deflagrations. Finally, we compare measurements with models of the remnant's evolution that include both smooth and clumpy ejecta profiles, finding that both ejecta profiles can be accommodated by the observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Some figures slightly degraded to reduce file siz

A GAL4 Driver Resource for Developmental and Behavioral Studies on the Larval CNS of Drosophila

SummaryWe report the larval CNS expression patterns for 6,650 GAL4 lines based on cis-regulatory regions (CRMs) from the Drosophila genome. Adult CNS expression patterns were previously reported for this collection, thereby providing a unique resource for determining the origins of adult cells. An illustrative example reveals the origin of the astrocyte-like glia of the ventral CNS. Besides larval neurons and glia, the larval CNS contains scattered lineages of immature, adult-specific neurons. Comparison of lineage expression within this large collection of CRMs provides insight into the codes used for designating neuronal types. The CRMs encode both dense and sparse patterns of lineage expression. There is little correlation between brain and thoracic lineages in patterns of sparse expression, but expression in the two regions is highly correlated in the dense mode. The optic lobes, by comparison, appear to use a different set of genetic instructions in their development

Glutamate Neurotransmission in Rodent Models of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in people younger than 45 and is a significant public health concern. In addition to primary mechanical damage to cells and tissue, TBI involves additional molecular mechanisms of injury, termed secondary injury, that continue to evolve over hours, days, weeks, and beyond. The trajectory of recovery after TBI is highly unpredictable and in many cases results in chronic cognitive and behavioral changes. Acutely after TBI, there is an unregulated release of glutamate that cannot be buffered or cleared effectively, resulting in damaging levels of glutamate in the extracellular space. This initial loss of glutamate homeostasis may initiate additional changes in glutamate regulation. The excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are expressed on both neurons and glia and are the principal mechanism for maintaining extracellular glutamate levels. Diffusion of glutamate outside the synapse due to impaired uptake may lead to increased extrasynaptic glutamate signaling, secondary injury through activation of cell death pathways, and loss of fidelity and specificity of synaptic transmission. Coordination of glutamate release and uptake is critical to regulating synaptic strength, long-term potentiation and depression, and cognitive processes. In this review, we will discuss dysregulation of extracellular glutamate and glutamate uptake in the acute stage of TBI and how failure to resolve acute disruptions in glutamate homeostatic mechanisms may play a causal role in chronic cognitive symptoms after TBI

Traumatic Brain Injury Induces Alterations in Cortical Glutamate Uptake without a Reduction in Glutamate Transporter-1 Protein Expression

We hypothesize that the primary mechanism for removal of glutamate from the extracellular space is altered after traumatic brain injury (TBI). To evaluate this hypothesis, we initiated TBI in adult male rats using a 2.0 atm lateral fluid percussion injury (LFPI) model. In the ipsilateral cortex and hippocampus, we found no differences in expression of the primary glutamate transporter in the brain (GLT-1) 24 h after TBI. In contrast, we found a decrease in glutamate uptake in the cortex, but not the hippocampus, 24 h after injury. Because glutamate uptake is potently regulated by protein kinases, we assessed global serine-threonine protein kinase activity using a kinome array platform. Twenty-five kinome array peptide substrates were differentially phoshorylated between LFPI and controls in the cortex, whereas 19 peptide substrates were differentially phosphorylated in the hippocampus (fold change ≥ ± 1.15). We identified several kinases as likely to be involved in acute TBI, including protein kinase B (Akt) and protein kinase C (PKC), which are well-characterized modulators of GLT-1. Exploratory studies using an inhibitor of Akt suggest selective activation of kinases in LFPI versus controls. Ingenuity pathway analyses of implicated kinases from our network model found apoptosis and cell death pathways as top functions in acute LFPI. Taken together, our data suggest diminished activity of glutamate transporters in the prefrontal cortex, with no changes in protein expression of the primary glutamate transporter GLT-1, and global alterations in signaling networks that include serine-threonine kinases that are known modulators of glutamate transport activity

Technology Estimating: A Process to Determine the Cost and Schedule of Space Technology Research and Development

NASA is investing in new technologies that include 14 primary technology roadmap areas, and aeronautics. Understanding the cost for research and development of these technologies and the time it takes to increase the maturity of the technology is important to the support of the ongoing and future NASA missions. Overall, technology estimating may help provide guidance to technology investment strategies to help improve evaluation of technology affordability, and aid in decision support. The research provides a summary of the framework development of a Technology Estimating process where four technology roadmap areas were selected to be studied. The framework includes definition of terms, discussion for narrowing the focus from 14 NASA Technology Roadmap areas to four, and further refinement to include technologies, TRL range of 2 to 6. Included in this paper is a discussion to address the evaluation of 20 unique technology parameters that were initially identified, evaluated and then subsequently reduced for use in characterizing these technologies. A discussion of data acquisition effort and criteria established for data quality are provided. The findings obtained during the research included gaps identified, and a description of a spreadsheet-based estimating tool initiated as a part of the Technology Estimating process

Discovery of Rapid Hard X-ray Variability and New Jet Activity in the Symbiotic Binary R Aqr

Two Chandra observations of the R Aqr symbiotic binary system taken 3.3 years apart show dramatic changes in the X-ray morphology and spectral characteristics in the inner 500 AU of this system. The morphology of the soft X-ray emission has evolved from a nearly circular region centered on the binary system to an hourglass shape that indicates the formation of a new southwest jet. Synchrotron radiation from the new jet in contemporaneous VLA radio spectra implies the physical conditions in the early stages of jet development are different from those in the more extended outer thermal jets known to exist for decades in this system. The central binary source has two X-ray spectral components in each of the two epochs, a soft component and a highly absorbed hard component characterized by T ~ 10^8 K if fit with a thermal plasma model. The spectrum hardened considerably between 2000.7 and 2004.0, primarily due to increased flux above 5 keV, suggesting a change in the accretion activity of the white dwarf on a timescale of a few years or less. Point-source Fe K emission is detected at the position of the central binary system in both observations. While the earlier observation shows evidence of only a single emission peak near Fe K alpha at 6.4 keV, the later observation shows a more complex emission structure between 6 and 7 keV. Finally, we have discovered a modulation in the hard X-ray flux with a period of 1734 s at a 95% confidence level in the 2004 observation only. The modulation potentially arises from standing shocks in an accretion column and we have explored the possibility that the white dwarf in R Aqr is analogous to the magnetic white dwarfs in Intermediate Polar.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, 1 table To be published in ApJ, expected April 10 issue. AAS LaTex styl